I don’t normally do gift guides.

Er, mostly because, as I said in yesterday’s post, I am really, really bad at choosing gifts. Like, seriously bad. You do NOT want a gift from me, not even joking. Unless, of course, you’re like me. Because, this week, for some unknown reason, I suddenly got the urge to do a little gift guide, and it occurred to me that while I’m in no position to provide gift ideas for men (Because men are THE WORST when it comes to buying gifts, aren’t they? Literally THE WORST.), children, animals, or anyone else you might be buying for, I CAN actually provide you with some gift ideas for women – as long as the women are relatively like me, that is.

So, look upon this, as you will, as a selection of gift ideas for women who are approximately my age, and with my exact taste and interests. Um, yeah, so, it’s not so much gift ideas for women, per se, as as it is gift ideas for women like me. Oh, screw it: it’s just a bunch of stuff I’d totally buy myself right now, if I possibly could: and here it is…

In putting together this gift guide, I’ve focused on items that I’ve either used myself, and really recommend, or which I’ve just seen and love. When I’m shopping for gifts for other people, I’m always frustrated by how much of it is just… well, TAT, really. You know all of those “novelty” gifts that you just know are destined to end up as landfill in the new year? Yeah, I hate those: so here’s what I’d buy instead…

Gift ideas for women: £20 and under:

Low-cost stocking fillers can be some of the trickiest things to buy without resorting to the aforementioned tat. I like to go for things I know the recipient (Who, as you’ll recall, is totally ME…) will hopefully use, but wouldn’t necessarily go out and buy themselves. Nightwear is always a good call, here: I mean, we all wear it (or most of us do, anyway), but I surely can’t be the only one who puts off buying it until everything I already own is grey all over, and gradually falling apart: CAN I? The Beauty Blender and Band.do pen sets, meanwhile, both fall into the “things I’ve used and love” categories: I use my Beauty Blender every day, but rarely replace it (GROSS, I know), so a new one would definitely come in handy. As for the pens, meanwhile, if your recipient has an Instagram account (or, again, is ME), I can guarantee she’ll LOVE these.

(Oh, and I’ll just quickly add here that, as cute as those pens are, I also find them really nice to actually, y’know, write with. I’m sensing that that’s probably a bit of a strange thing to say, because, well, they’re PENS, writing is their job, right? They write better than other pens, though, in my opinion, so take that for what it’s worth.)

Fashion and beauty gifts are ones I tend to shy away from when I’m shopping for other people. I think it’s tempting to go for something like this if your recipient is really into makeup/clothes, but, of course, people who are REALLY into those things will tend to be the fussiest to buy for, as they’ll normally have very firm ideas about what they like/don’t like – plus, with makeup and skincare, you also have to be very sure that you know the person’s skin type/colouring/allergies etc, before you buy.

If you do want to go for a beauty gift, though, my suggestion is to stick to the classics – things that work for just about everyone, and which people won’t mind having duplicates of. I mean, let’s face it, if she’s a beauty addict, she’s probably already got one of the Urban Decay Naked palettes: can you REALLY have too many of these, though? I doubt it. (I’d still go for the Basics palette, though – these are colours that really will suit everyone!)

As far as skincare goes, I absolutely swear by my Luna Play cleansing brush: I use it every night, and really notice a difference in my skin if I decide to take a break from it for some reason (laziness, mostly…)

And the rest of this selection? Er, just stuff I like, really. Well, I did say these were gift ideas for women exactly like me, didn’t I? And women exactly like me are going to want that sweater and those shoes, trust me.

(Oh, and I’ve already bought myself the Ban.do agenda: I had the same one this year, and it’s perfect for my needs (as well as being very Instagrammable, obviously), so why change?)

Gift ideas for women: £60 and under

Gift ideas for women: £100 and under

Finally, if you’re feeling a bit spendy, my motto here would be, “Anything silk or anything cashmere.” I love this H&M silk nightshirt, for instance, and I’m also a fan of their cashmere, which is good quality, without being ridiculously over-priced. A silk pillowcase, meanwhile, is one of my many weapons in the ongoing fight against sleep lines: again, it’s the kind of thing you might not buy for yourself, or, if you did, you wouldn’t mind having more than one of them.

And now I’m going to go and sit on my hands for a while, so I’m not tempted to buy any of this stuff for myself…

A silk pillowcase is one of those things I keep meaning to try, because I’ve heard everyone say how nice they are. The problem is, it seems to me they would be rather COLD, and when the temperature drops outside, I really like snuggling up with a nice flannelette set! Maybe I’ll get one for summer 🙂